In the Arms of the Father

Scriptures: John 14:1-4, Romans 5:5, John 14:5-8, Hebrews 1:3, John 14:9-10

Jesus came to reveal the Father 

In general, Christians and unbelievers have good feelings towards Jesus. He was gentle, humble, compassionate, blessed the poor, the weak, etc… 

Yet when it comes to God the Father, Christians often ignore, fear, or are angry with him. 

It is possible to live an unconscious inner struggle between wanting to get closer to Jesus while remaining at a distance from the Father. This blocks us spiritually. Indeed, Jesus is one with the Father and to push against one is to push the other away. 

Jesus is not only the way to be saved, but he is also the one who reveals the Father. Like many Christians today, Philip, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, did not understand that Jesus was the perfect image of the Father. 

If Philip and the other eleven disciples had difficulty understanding that Jesus had come to reveal the Father, it is possible that we also do not understand everything and that we need a greater and truer revelation of who the Father is. 

This is the prayer that I propose to make during the next few days : Lord Jesus, show me the Father. Reveal the Father to my spirit so that I may know him as he truly is. Show me the lies that I have believed that keep me from running into his loving arms.

Scriptures: John 14:9-10, John 16:28-31, John 8:3-11, Mark 1:40-43, Mark 10:13-16, Luke 19:1-10

Jesus came from the Father 

In John 149-10, Philip asked Jesus to show the Father to him. This seemed to surprise Jesus. Indeed, the Father is like Jesus, who came to reveal him. 

Like Philip, many of us often see Jesus as different from the Father, but Jesus came from the Father. 

It was only during their last evening with Jesus that the disciples believed that Jesus had come from the Father. What does this tell us? 

• When we see the nature of Jesus, we discover the nature of the Father. 
• When we taste the love of Jesus, we realize the love of the Father. 
• When we experience the sweetness of Jesus, we understand the sweetness of the Father. 
• When we realize the closeness of Jesus, we have access to the intimacy of the Father. 

Therefore, if you want to know God the Father better, see Jesus in the Gospels and decide to believe that the Father is like Jesus.

Then confront your ideas about the Father and ask yourself this question: Is Jesus like that?

For example: 

If I think the Father is angry with me, I have to ask myself: Is Jesus angry with me? 

If I think that God is not interested in me, I have to ask myself the question: Is Jesus indifferent? Did he remain insensitive to suffering? If Jesus touched the leper, took the children in his arms and stayed at Zacchaeus’s place, then the Father wants to do the same for me. 

When you realize that your wrong beliefs about the Father are lies, you will be able to refuse them. By accepting the truth, your feelings and your relationship with God the Father will change. 

I invite you to pray with me: 

Jesus, thank you for coming to reveal the Father to me. I choose to believe that the Father is like you. Father, I open my heart to you. Holy Spirit, open my eyes so that I realize the lies that keep me from being closer to the Father. Help me to refuse attitudes which result from a false image of the Father.

Scriptures: 1 John 3:1, 1 John 4:16, Isaiah 53:4-5, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Hebrews 4:16

Father is in a good mood 

Many perceive God the Father as someone whose anger can erupt at any moment. Whoever believes this remains in constant fear of an unpredictable God. With every catastrophe, he wonders why God is angry. 

When we have this image of God, we tend to run away from Him when we suffer, thinking that we must wait for him to stop being angry. And when we don’t suffer, we tend to do everything to avoid Him. 

Fear keeps us at a distance from the Father. It is difficult to know Him and receive his blessings when we are afraid to approach him. 

I have a friend whose work is to accompany prisoners in court. She must be strong, distant, and assertive. Yet she is a joyful woman who laughs easily. She always smiles and shows love to her children. God is a loving Father for his children. Since you are His child, He does not judge you. He is your savior, so you do not have to fear his anger. Enjoy His love. God is not angry toward you. He is love. Stop hiding and run into his arms! 

If you have lived as an enemy of God, remember that Jesus suffered sin’s punishment so you could experience peace. The wrath of God, His anger, was upon Him. Jesus is your propitiatory victim, who favors God to be well disposed towards you. In everyday English, we could sum it up this way: God is happy when he thinks of you! 

You can, therefore, by faith, relying on the sacrifice of Jesus, approach the throne of grace with confidence and assurance without fear. Moreover, you have to realize that this throne of grace takes its name from the one who sits on it, the Father. 

I invite you to pray with me: 

Jesus, thank you for reconciling me to the Father through your sacrifice. Father, I come close to you now. I reject the fear of condemnation, the fear of your anger, and I confess that you are in a great mood, that you smile and hold out your arms to me. I run into your arms and pray for you cover me with your love. Holy Spirit, fill me with the Father’s love in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Scriptures: Psalms 139:1-5, Jeremiah 31:20, Ezekiel 34:15-16, Hebrews 13:5, Isaiah 40:11, Hosea 11:3-4, John 17:3, John 14:23, John 16:27

God wants to be in communion with you 

God is love, yet most of his children find it difficult to pray to Him. Jesus said that when you pray, to close the door of your room and pray to your Father who is unseen. (Matthew 6:6) 

But many close the bedroom door and stay outside for fear of bothering God. 

The image you have of God is a mental construct based on truths, but it may also be based on lies. Each of these thoughts leads to attitudes toward God. 

If you see God as sitting on his hands, being passive and distant, you may unconsciously think that he is indifferent to your difficulties. This mindset can cause a lack of desire to approach him or anger at this lack of attention we are expecting from him. 

Moreover, if you picture God sitting on an inaccessible throne, then you may have come to the conclusion that he does not even know you and that it is impossible to have a real intimacy with him. You may try to get his attention with descriptive prayers and religious performances. 

The truth is quite different. 

God the Father is close to you. He cares about your life. You have to believe it when you pray in order to open yourself to his comfort. 

God thinks about you all the time. He is full of compassion for you. 

You can expect him to support you because his love for you does not depend on you. He first loved you. The Father is faithful; he will never forsake you. 

Jesus came to reveal the Father so that we can come close to him and be in his arms. He insists on the fact that the Father himself loves us. 

Eternal life means knowing God. In other words, it means to be in real communion with him. 

I invite you to make this prayer: 

Father, thank you for loving me. Today I decide to renounce the lie that says you are distant, cold, indifferent, passive, or too busy. I accept, with joy, the truth that says you are great, warm, loving, caring, close to me, and that you desire to be in communion with me. Thank you, Daddy, that because I am your beloved child, I can run into your arms to receive your love.

Scriptures: Matthew 25:14-30, Psalms 84:11, James 1:17, Hebrews 11:6

God is much better than you think 

Today, I ask you a question. Do you really believe that God is good? 

In the parable of the master and the servants, we see how our perception of God effects our lives. A master entrusted money to his servants and asked them to do something possible: to increase what they were given. The first two servants doubled the amount entrusted to them, but the third buried the money. The master then asked each of them for an account. He congratulated, blessed, rewarded, and valued the first two servants, for he was a good and generous master who trusted his servants. On the other hand, the third justified his laziness because of his fear of the master, whom he claimed to be harsh, unjust, and ungrateful. This servant, because of the lies he believed about his master, adopted a view that deprived him of the blessing. 

Some Christians see God as harsh and stingy and, as a result, live their lives without joy, living in mediocrity and without fulfillment. Their view of God deprives them of the Father’s blessings. 

If I believe that God is harsh, I will not expect anything good from him. I will be hopeless. I will pray without real faith, for my unbelief will be fed by the lies I believe. In the end, I will receive nothing, and the absence of blessings in my life will strengthen my belief that God is stingy with his blessings. 

But the Bible tells us that God is good and that his goodness is toward us. If I live in difficult circumstances, my hope is in God who is good. He has made promises to me and, by faith, I pray according to those promises. This faith pleases him and his blessings reveal new facets of his goodness to me. My faith in his goodness then increases with the blessings in my life. 

The faith that pleases God believes that he exists AND that he rewards those who seek him. 

I invite you to say this prayer with me : 

Father, I renounce the lie that you are stingy or harsh. I resolve to believe in your goodness revealed in the Scriptures, and I resolve to be expectant for you. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Daddy, what do you want to tell me about your kindness ? 

Scriptures: Hebrews 8:6, Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Luke 5:12-13, Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 2:10

God wants your well-being 

God made promises to his people after giving them the law in the Old Covenant. 

Our covenant with Jesus is superior and therefore the blessings attached to it are more excellent! 

You don’t have to beg for God’s blessing. He WANTS to bless you. He promised blessing and in Jesus he provided for its fulfillment. 

However, we sometimes doubt that God wants to bless us. This doubt prevents our faith from grasping the blessings available in Jesus. 

The leper did not know if Jesus wanted to heal him, but Jesus encouraged him by saying, “I do.” 

Be encouraged, God wants your good. 

You can live God’s Plan A for yourself. 

Sometimes we are satisfied with mediocrity, a plan B, thinking that it is enough because we doubt that God can give us more. 

One example is a young girl who serves the Lord passionately and yet is content to marry a man whose relationship with God is just knowing the address of the church. She does not believe that God wants to give her a man of God. 

Let’s also take this example: a man is looking for a job. He is then offered a job that will put a strain on his family and his health. This man accepts the job without consulting God, because he thinks that it is better than nothing and he is satisfied with a plan B. 

God is on your side. 

God’s Plan A is completely beyond your comprehension. You can’t even imagine it. Don’t limit it! Don’t stop him from blessing you because of unbelief. Expect the best and wait on him. 

Stop praying : “Lord, if you could at least…, I would be content with…”, but rather pray : “Lord, may your will be done in my life. I welcome your blessing. I rely, by faith, on your promises and I have expectancy for your goodness to manifest itself in my life.”

I invite you to pray with me : 

I choose today to expect the best from God and I give him permission to guide me to live his perfect plan for my life. Holy Spirit, renew my thoughts. Jesus, reveal to me the goodness of my Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus, amen !